Pop and Jazz : Les Paul Delivers a Solid Set, Cocktail Lounge-Style

Legendary guitarist Les Paul’s performance Friday at the Strand was a terrific cocktail-lounge show. Yes, cocktail-lounge.

That’s what he’s always done, something we tend to forget--or prefer to forget. We like to think of Paul, who will be 76 on Tuesday, as a guitar god, doing dazzling improvisations, in jazz or rock style, and breathtaking nimble-fingered runs.

But his specialty is melodic, easy listening, instrumental music--songs like “How High the Moon,” “Stardust” and “Back Home in Indiana.” His approach is fairly simplistic, largely clinging to the melody and not straying too far from the song’s basic structure. For any capable musician, this is pretty easy stuff.

Paul, though, plays these hummable instrumentals about as well as they can be played. Despite the limited boundaries of his genre, he brings a certain amount of flair and emotional tension to some innocuous material. He was backed by a bassist and a guitarist for a lilting, all-strings sound.

Undoubtedly there were guitarists in the audience who were well aware of one of Paul’s most notable achievements--inventing the solid-body electric guitar--and had played the model Gibson guitar named after him.

What’s remarkable about Paul is that age hasn’t eroded his skills--or his stamina. Playing vigorously for four hours in a smoke-filled club is quite a feat. Judging from his performance, his passion for his music is still intact, too.